Pachner Shoots for Success at Valor Christian

Pachner shoots for success at Valor Christian Former D’Evelyn hoops coach `seeking excellence’ at new school

Jim Benton

Troy Pachner’s resume was hard to discount, and Valor Christian hired him as the school’s new head boys basketball coach.

Pachner was the only head coach at D’Evelyn for the past 17 years, compiling a 292-129 record. The Jaguars won a 3A state title in 2004, captured six league titles and advanced to the Elite 8 six times.

“We had a lot of success at D’Evelyn,” said Pachner. “I loved the community and character of the people, and especially with the great pride in all the years teaching there and building the basketball program.”

Pachner left D’Evelyn to replace Ronnie DeGray, who resigned as Valor coach after three seasons.

“It was a very difficult decision,” admitted Pachner. “There was a mutual interest between myself and Valor. I just knew if that position became available that I would have an interest.

“After 25 years in public schools, which I really enjoyed, I was looking for a different experience, and Valor with a Christian-based community and the focus of seeking excellence, that at this time in my career I felt was the path I wanted to go down.”

Pachner acknowledged the contributions of the three previous Valor coaches and pointed out he hopes to continue the success of the Eagles basketball program with his style of play.

“We’re seeking excellence, so that means we’re trying to build a program that goes out and competes for state titles year in and year out,” said Pachner. “We will play very aggressively on the defensive end. We will play a lot of pressure-man.

“On the offensive end we’re going to play with a lot of pro spacing, attack the rim and also shoot a lot of threes if we have the kids that can do it. It’s a real exciting up-and-down brand of basketball. It’s fan friendly, and as a player I don’t know what other kind of system you would want to play in. It’s a chance to run, defend, attack the rim and shoot the three.”

Valor returns its top three scorers in Khameron Davis, Jalen Sanders and Dylan McCaffrey.

“You’ve got those three guys as your backbone, but there are several other kids that played last year or are coming up from the JV ranks, and I just love the competitive nature,” said Pachner. “I feel pretty spoiled walking into a situation with that kind of talent.

“The cupboard looks pretty full to me. The athleticism across the board is impressive.”